With “La Melodia della Strada”, the award-winning Austrian composer and conductor Christian Muthspiel (including Hans Koller Prize: Musician of the Year 2007) delivers a soundtrack he composed – full of images, stories, allusions and anecdotes – to the festival The Graz Road 2022. Muthspiel used the film of the same name “La Strada” (1954) by the Italian director Federico Fellini as a starting point and inspiration, as well as the musical work “Nino Rotas”, who also composed the music for the film. The concert recording was recorded in 2022 as part of the festival at the Graz Opera House and released as a double album under the title “Christian Muthspiel & ORJAZZTRA VIENNA – La Melodia Della Strada” (col legno; 2023).
Muthspiel dedicates his work to the artistic work of Federico Fellini, which he describes as his “door opener to the world”. “contributed [hat]that I tried to go from being a Styrian greenhorn to being a kind of “citizen of the world.” (Those: ORF MusikTIPP, October 29, 2023). In four movements and a total of 17 pieces, Muthspiel – together with his 17-piece ORJAZZTRA VIENNA, which is full of first-class, outstanding young musicians from the Austrian jazz scene – tells listeners about love dances (“Danza dell’amore”) (High) flights of the imagination (“Il volo dell’immaginazion”) or the inner workings of a machine room (“In sala macchine”). On this great film music-jazzed journey, Muthspiel also creates a synergy of musical collectivism and individualism by allowing each of the 17 musicians to play an improvised solo part on one of the 17 pieces (coincidence?!), and so equally as part of the ensemble acts, from which everyone also emerges as an individual soloist and then returns to the collective.
In addition to the musical dramaturgically exciting, entertaining and multi-faceted journey, the associated outstanding compositional achievements of Muthspiel – who also took part in the mixing and mastering of the album – above all, the organic, traveling, virtuosic instrumental skills/playing of each ensemble member are equally important Collectively as well as as a soloist ORJAZZTRA VIENNA to be particularly appreciated.
Frederico Fellini once said: “There is no beginning and no end, only the endless passion to live.” Have your endless passion for and for music Christian Muthspiel & ORJAZZTRA VIENNA impressively proven with “La Melodia della Strada”.
Simon Reitschuster
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Christian Muthspiel
ORJAZZTRA VIENNA
with wood